Fugitive nabbed in Midway

Three-day manhunt for fugitive ends in Midway late Friday.

A 53-hour manhunt ended in Midway when a fugitive came out of hiding to get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts from a Dumpster.

Dominic Reddick, 22, is being held at Liberty County jail, where he is awaiting extradition to Florida on charges of escape, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Reddick had been on the run since Monday, when he escaped from a prison transport van that had broken down in Florida, said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Jennifer A. Armstrong.

More than 200 law enforcement officers had pursued him since Wednesday, when he was spotted running behind Ford's Pointe apartments off U.S. 17 in southwest Chatham County.

Police followed the fugitive through Bryan County to Liberty County, where he was captured Friday night.

They moved their search to a nine-mile stretch of woods near Interstate 95 in Midway Thursday night after getting a tip that Reddick hitched a ride from Bryan County. Apparently, the truck driver who picked Reddick up heard a newscast about a fugitive and dropped his passenger off at Exit 76, Armstrong said.

Police converged on the exit after spotting the suspect on a gas station surveillance camera.

But it wasn't until a citizen told a sheriff's deputy she saw Reddick trying to get into a Dumpster behind a BP gas station that the search narrowed.

"He knew they threw stale Krispy Kreme donuts in that Dumpster," Armstong said. "He said he was so desperate for food."

Reddick never got his donuts; as soon as he saw police, he ran back into the woods.

But this time he couldn't elude officers, especially Lola - a 5-year-old bloodhound from Ware State Prison.

"Lola got on his scent and would not let go," Armstrong said.

Around 11:30 p.m., police arrested Reddick without resistance and took him to Liberty Regional Medical Center. He was treated for pneumonia, dehydration and numerous abrasions and scratches, Armstrong said.

But before taking him to jail, officers bought some graham crackers from a vending machine for the fugitive.

Reddick didn't eat or sleep during his trek through the Coastal Empire, Armstrong said.

He tried to sleep in a tree the first night, but fell out, she said.

He also spent most of the time without shoes or pants, which he told marshals he lost during the initial chase on Ogeechee Road.

Reddick was arrested wearing black boxer shorts, a red hooded sweatshirt and sneakers. He told marshals he stole the shoes from a house porch Thursday.

"The first night when this happened, we set a psychological tone that he was a wanted man," said U.S. Marshal James T. Roberts of the Southern District of Georgia. "His main interest was hiding and fleeing."

Reddick was being held in Florida in connection to pointing a gun at an Orlando police officer. He even pulled the trigger, but the gun wasn't loaded, marshals said.

Reddick was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, attempted murder of a police officer, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting arrest with violence.

He was on his way to Gainesville for a court hearing in connection to the Orlando incident when he escaped. He spent more than six hours in a swamp along the side of a Florida highway before hitching a ride to Savannah, marshals said.

Reddick planned to hide out with a friend in Savannah until the media coverage died down.

"His hope was to head south into Florida - hitch-hike a ride or steal a car," Armstrong said. "Then get his family to smuggle him out of the county and into the Cayman Islands."